Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-03-30
Wednesday, March 30, 1887.
BOB INGERsOLL ON SOCIALISM.

BOB INGERsOLL ON SOCIALISM.
SOME OF the best and purest Of tn.
rae have advocated what IL known as
Socialism. They have not only taught,
but what is much more to the purpose,
have believed that a nation should
be a family; that the government
should take care of all its children;
that IL should provide. work and food
and clothes and educate for sll, and
that II should divide the results Of all
labor e~quitably with all. Seeing the
inequalities among men, knowing OF
the d~estitution and crime, these men
were willing TO sacrifice not only their
own liberties but the liberties Of all.
Socialism seems to be one OF the worst
possible forms Of slavery. Nothing in
my judgement would so utterly para.
lyze all forces, all the splendid ambi.
tions and aspirations that aow tend "a
the civilization Of man. In ordinary
systems Of slavery there are some mas
tSrs-a few are supposed to be free; but
in q social. site state all would he slaves.
II the government is TO provide work,
IL must decide for the worker what he
must do, 1t must say who shall chisel
statutes, who shall paint pictures, who
shall compose music, and who shall
practice professions. Is any govern.
ment, or can any government be capa'
BILE of in~telligently performing tbese
countless duties? 1t must not only
control work, it must not only decide
what each shall do, but ii must control
expenses, because expenses bear a di.
rect relation to the products. There.
fore, the government must decide
what the worker shall eat, and where.
withal he shall he clothed. the kind
Of house in which he shall live; III.
manner in which he shall be furn'
ished, and, II this government furD.
ishes the work. IL must decide on the
days or hours Of leisure. More than
this, IL must fix values; II must decide
not only who shall sell, but who shall
buy, and the prices that must be
paid-snd ii must fix this value not
simply upon the labor, but on every.
thing that car be produced that can
be exchanged or sold. l. ii possible
to conceive Of a despotism beyond
this@ The present condition Of the
world is bad enough, with its poverty
and ignorance; but il Is far better than
1t could by any possibility be under
any government like the n de.
scriUed. There would be less hunger
of the body, but not Of the mind.
Each man would simply be a citizen
of a large penitentiary, and, a. Ia
every well-regulated prison, some.
body would decide what each
should do. The inmates of q
prison retire early; they hav,
clothes; they attend divine ser
vice; tbsy have but little to say about
their neighbors; they do not suffer
from cold; their habits are ex ,ellent
and yet. no one envies their condition.
Socialism destroys the family. THE
children belong to the state. Certain
officers take the place Of parents. In
dividuslity Is lost. The human race
cannot afford to tx change its liberty
for any possible comfort. You remem-
Der the fable OF the fat dog that met
the lean wolf In the forest. The wolf
sstonisbed to see so prosperous an ami
NAL, inquired Of the dog where he got
his food, and the dog told him that
there was a nan who took ARE of him,
gave him his breakfast, his dinner and
his supper with the utmost regularity,
and that he had all he could eat and
very little TO do. The wolf said: do
you think this man would treat me as
well as he does your" The dog "a.
piled: ayes; come along with me-"
80 they joggled along together toward
the dogs home. On the way the wolf
happened to notice that some hair was
worn off the dogs neck, and he said.
"How did the hair become worn?'
"rhat is," said the dog, "tbe mark Of
my collar. My master ties me up al
night" TO-" said the wolf, are you
chained9 Are you deprived of your
liberty? believe ! will go back.
prefer hunger"
Her name IL Mrs. George Clark. and